The Umlalazi Nature Reserve is a coastal reserve situated 1 km from Mtunzini on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast. Umlalazi was established as a protected area in 1948 and is 10.28 km2 (3.97 sq mi) in extent. Home of the Palm-nut Vulture, which is one of the rarest birds of prey in South Africa.
Lagoons can have crocodiles. There are three trails in the reserve. One of which passes examples of mangrove swamps in South Africa, where several species of mangrove can be found. Another walk leads through the dune forest where bushpig, bushbuck and red, grey and blue duiker may occasionally be seen.
The third trail leads through dune forest and mangrove swamp along the edge of the river. Wildflowers and a variety of bird life can be seen. There are also colonies of fiddler crabs and mud-skippers.
Famous quotes containing the words nature and/or reserve:
“Three years she grew in sun and shower,
Then Nature said, ‘A lovelier flower
On earth was never sown;
This Child I to myself will take;”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)